Brother, sister spar over seat on PM junket

The inclusion of Team Anna member, former TV anchor Shazia Ilmi, in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s media team for his trip to the Rio+20 summit in Brazil, has been the cause of much fuss in the PMO and in the MEA over the last few days.

Shazia was included in the entourage as a representative of her family-run Urdu newspaper Siasat Jadid.

But her elder brother, Aijaz Ilmi, who identifies himself as editor of the Lucknow edition, wrote to the MEA saying Shazia was now a “full-time activist” and “doesn’t represent the paper” though she was “part of the family”. He said Shazia’s nomination for the trip was done without his knowledge and must be treated as “invalid and infructuous”.

Shazia, however, counters this saying Aizaz isn’t the editor who, in turn, says: “Now it’s for the MEA to decide.”

One Response to “Brother, sister spar over seat on PM junket”

Doesn’t the PMO and MEA check the credentials of a newspaper and newsperson before listing them for a trip? Or was it a junket to soothe her since she is in Anna’s Team? And if she does not represent a newspaper, what use is she to the PM? And, does she even has an accreditation? Or just anyone can go, pretending to be from the media?